Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Chiefly Southern US A large, fancy marble used for shooting.
  • noun The line from which a player shoots in marbles.
  • noun A game of marbles.
  • intransitive verb To shoot a marble.
  • transitive verb To convert (an animal hide) into white leather by treating it with a mixture containing alum and salt.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Implements; tackle.
  • noun A Middle English variant of tow.
  • To work, dress, or prepare (some raw material) for use or for further manipulation.
  • Especially To make (hides) into leather, specifically by soaking them, after cleaning, in a solution of alum and salt. See leather, tanning.
  • To harden or make tough.
  • To beat; thrash.
  • To torture; torment.
  • noun The twenty-second and last letter (R) of the Hebrew alphabet, corresponding to the English t. Its numerical value is 400.
  • noun A game at marbles.
  • noun The line or limit from which the players shoot in playing marbles.
  • noun A marble. Compare alley-taw.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun obsolete Tow.
  • noun A large marble to be played with; also, a game at marbles.
  • noun Colloq. U. S. A line or mark from which the players begin a game of marbles.
  • transitive verb obsolete To prepare or dress, as hemp, by beating; to tew; hence, to beat; to scourge.
  • transitive verb To dress and prepare, as the skins of sheep, lambs, goats, and kids, for gloves, and the like, by imbuing them with alum, salt, and other agents, for softening and bleaching them.
  • transitive verb obsolete To push; to tug; to tow.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The twenty-second and last letter of many Semitic alphabets/abjads (Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic and others).
  • noun A favorite marble in the game of marbles.
  • noun A line or mark from which the players begin a game of marbles.
  • noun ring-taw
  • noun square dancing dance partner
  • noun A favorite person; beloved, partner, spouse.
  • verb to shoot a marble
  • verb transitive, obsolete To prepare.
  • verb transitive Specifically, to turn (animals’ hide) into leather, usually by soaking it in a certain solution.
  • noun obsolete Tawed leather.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the 23rd letter of the Hebrew alphabet
  • noun a large marble used for shooting in the game of marbles

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Origin unknown.]

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English tawen, from Old English tawian, to prepare.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Origin unknown.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English tawen, from Old English tawian ("to do, make"), from Proto-Germanic *tawjanan (“to make, prepare”), from Proto-Indo-European *dewǝ- (“to tie to, secure”). Cognate with Dutch touwen ("to rope, tether, curry"), Dutch tuien ("to fasten with ropes"), German Tau ("rope, hawser, cable"), Gothic 𐍄𐌰𐌿𐌾𐌰𐌽 (taujan, "to make, prepare"). Related to tool and tether.

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Examples

  • There was no difficulty about balls, for we decided at once that the most suitable article for us, in the absence of real gutties, was the big white marble which we called a taw, and which was about half the size of an ordinary golf ball, or perhaps a little less than that.

    The Complete Golfer Harry Vardon 1903

  • A starting or "taw" line is drawn on the ground and the back stands with his side parallel to it.

    Games for the Playground, Home, School and Gymnasium Jessie Hubbell Bancroft

  • The "taw" is a straight line some six or eight feet away.

    Philippine Folk-Tales Fletcher Gardner

  • In season with the right conditions I certainly would shoot a 'yote and taw his fur too.

    The Coyote--to Shoot or Not to Shoot. That is the Question. 2009

  • Where it usually does, with the Big D's and the Big R's and now the Big T's ( "Teabloids", since they seem to be a tabloid form of politics) involved in a scream fest that has reduced the current level of political discourse to something akin to an argument between Sylvester and Tweety Bird on who taw, or did not tee a Putty Tat.

    Sam Isaac Edwards: PIS_ AND VINEGAR Sam Isaac Edwards 2010

  • Where it usually does, with the Big D's and the Big R's and now the Big T's ( "Teabloids", since they seem to be a tabloid form of politics) involved in a scream fest that has reduced the current level of political discourse to something akin to an argument between Sylvester and Tweety Bird on who taw, or did not tee a Putty Tat.

    Sam Isaac Edwards: PIS_ AND VINEGAR Sam Isaac Edwards 2010

  • Where it usually does, with the Big D's and the Big R's and now the Big T's ( "Teabloids", since they seem to be a tabloid form of politics) involved in a scream fest that has reduced the current level of political discourse to something akin to an argument between Sylvester and Tweety Bird on who taw, or did not tee a Putty Tat.

    Sam Isaac Edwards: PIS_ AND VINEGAR Sam Isaac Edwards 2010

  • In season with the right conditions I certainly would shoot a 'yote and taw his fur too.

    The Coyote--to Shoot or Not to Shoot. That is the Question. 2009

  • At that time, the renovation team on scaffolding tried to adjust the collapsed hti-taw again.

    Global Voices in English » Myanmar: Collapse of an Ancient Pagoda 2009

  • An old woman who lives in Danoke Village near the pagoda said, What happened was around 2pm, the hti-taw (ornamental finial of the pagoda) collapsed first, yet there was no strong wind blowing.

    Global Voices in English » Myanmar: Collapse of an Ancient Pagoda 2009

Comments

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  • A type of marble, as in the kids game, not the stone. Otherwise known as a Shooter.

    December 13, 2006